With coffee prices at a 30-year all time low, the International
Coffee Organisation and World Bank ended their round table last
week with a call to rich countries to share the burden of the
present coffee crisis.
Creatine serum supplements may have no effect on muscle ATP or
creatine stores, say researchers, who report that one particular
liquid serum had no effect on 40 subjects tested.
Once positioned as a breakfast or after dinner treat, yoghurt is
now widely viewed as an all day snack. Product innovation - both in
packaging and content - have driven dramatic growth in the sector.
Indian producers of the synthetic red colouring allura red have won
an antidumping case in the US following investigations from the
United States International Trade Commission (USITC) that resulted
in the USITC ruling in their favour.
International Specialty Products (ISP) continues to consolidate its position on the ingredients market with the news this week that it has acquired Brazilian ingredient systems company Germinal.
Does iron fortification work ? And if so, how ? Scientists from the
US government are working on a new study to investigate the
absorption and utilisation - the bioavailability - of various iron
sources used to fortify foods today.
Who would have thought it? A nice cup of tea to combat those
embarassing bad breath moments. Scientists in the US have found
compounds in tea can stop the growth of bacteria that cause bad
breath.
North American farmers were shaken this week when the Canadian
government confirmed on Tuesday that a cow slaughtered in January
from an Alberta farm had tested positive for BSE (Bovine Spongiform
Encephalopathy), or Mad Cow disease.
The confrontation between Europe and the United States over
genetically modified foods shifted up a gear this week when the US
President George. W. Bush accused Europe of impeding efforts to
fight world famine because of its trade...
Company results continue today with the Dutch Royal Schouten Group
(RSG) - comprised of the four divisions Acatris, Orffa, Schouten
Products and Nutrilab - reporting a strong financial performance
for 2002, benefiting from the completion...
The Netherlands-based Royal Schouten Group, whose four divisions
include health ingredients firm Acatris, reported a strong
financial performance for 2002, helped by the recent reorganisation
of the company.
Competition in the biogum sector is set to hot up with the news
today that US company CP Kelco is looking to boost production
capabilities to reinforce its position in the biogums marketplace.
In the US, the American Association of Cereal Chemists (AACC) is up
in arms this week claiming that new definitions for dietary fibre
compiled by Food Nutrition Board (FNB) are totally inadequate.
Good news for manufacturers of meat-free food products with
findings from a recent Food and Drink Federation survey revealing that UK
meat eaters, looking for a meat-free option, are helping to drive
the £582 million (€814m) market.
US caramel colour company DD Williamson announced this week that it
has launched a new, oil-dispersible caramel colour blend to provide
sticking power for snack and confectionery applications.
Dutch company Acatris, formed recently following a merger between
four Royal Schouten businesses, established its new name with the
launch of a lignan product at last week's VitaFoods trade fair in
Geneva, Switzerland.
Prebiotics are complex carbohydrates - such as inulin and
short-chain sugars called oligosaccharides - that pass undigested
from the lower intestine to the colon. At this point the
carbohydrates are consumed by Bifidobacterium and...
"Maintaining unrestricted entry for imports of milk protein
concentrates (MPC) and casein," is a top priority for the
Consumers for World Trade (CWT), according to a letter sent to the
US Congress by the CWT, writes the...
Americans, it seems, can't get enough of beef. Demand continues to increase, and a new beef consumption record was set during the first quarter of 2003 in Nebraska, according to the Nebraska Beef Council.
SureBeam has announced the opening of its new Brazilian food
processing centre. The company will use the plant to develop
disinfestation treatments for the fruit and vegetable market.
News again today on inulin with Sensus America, a subsidiary of
Dutch company Sensus, announcing that the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) has given inulin Generally Regarded As Safe
(GRAS) status. The move could provide inulin...
Cognis Nutrition and Health used the Vitafoods exhibition taking
place in Geneva, Switzerland this week as the right platform to
launch its Tonalin CLA to the European market.
With impeccable timing in light of the US move earlier this week to
file a case with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the EU ban
on biotech foods, a recent report from Washington, DC, based
International Food Information Council...
The humble, yet nutritious, raisin could well be the next rival to
sodium nitrite in the food preservative stakes, claim researchers
from the US this week who have just completed research on the
celebrated beef jerky.
A wide range of products are on display at this week's Vitafoods
exhibition in Geneva. One such product is edible film strips, a
novel delivery system from Watson Foods.
So, they went ahead and did it anyway. Despite imminent changes to
the European legislation on genetically modified organisms (GMOs),
re-iterated by EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy just this week,
the US has gone ahead and filed...
The World Health Organisation, the body that recently tasted the
wrath of the US sugar industry when it published a report into diet
and health that set a ceiling of 10 per cent for sugar consumption
in an overall diet, welcomed the...
Following a spat of acquisitions, leading gelatine supplier the
GELITA group has opted to harmonise the group by renaming all of
its operating units to fall under the GELITA name.
Company results continue today with US ingredients company MGP
Ingredients reporting net losses for the third quarter ended 31
March 2003 due to a combination of factors including higher energy
costs and the lack of expected funds...
Despite a testing global economic climate, sales remained steady
and earnings before interest and taxes rose for German speciality
chemicals company Degussa in the first quarter of 2003. But guarded
optimism remains for 2003.
Cognis B.V., a subsidiary of the Henkel Group, has entered the
botanical extracts market with the acquisition of Spanish company
Laboratorios Dr. Vinyals...
Ingredients developer zuChem this week announced that it has raised
a considerable chunk of capital in order to develop new methods to
manufacture alternative sweeteners.
No more browning in cut lettuce, or so scientists in the US would
have us believe following the development of a new technology.
Their discovery could shortly have an impact on the $2 billion
(€1.76) bagged salad industry in the US,...
In a bid to meet increasing demands from sponge cake manufacturers
for a healthier version of their traditionally calorific products,
French starch derivative manufacturer Cerestar, now under the wings
of US giant Cargill, claims...
The frustration of suffering the drip-drip effect of an ice lolly
on a hot summer day may well be over as food ingredients giant
Danisco hails the launch of the non-drip ice lolly, Ice Dreams.
Netherlands-based Royal Schouten Group has merged four of its food
and health ingredients companies to form Acatris. The merger
involves Daminco, Orffa Health & Nutrition, Schouten USA and
SoyLife Nederland.
US agribusiness Bunge, part owner of the new plant-based speciality
food ingredients business The Solae Company formed in April with
DuPont, announced the sale of its Brazilian ingredients operations
to the new company for $256 million...
The pursuit of genome sequencing continues with the news this week
that scientists from seven nations have revealed the genome
sequence of the bread mould Neurospora crassa.
Adding to a growing body of evidence that suggests environmental
pollution may have an impact on the proportion of male births
around the world, a new study from the US states that women exposed
to polychlorinated biphenyls may be...
Natural ingredient manufacturer Kemin Foods last week voiced its
support for the US Food and Drug Administration's new initiative to
strengthen labelling, manufacturing and product quality
requirements for the dietary supplement...
German enzyme company AB Enzymes, a subsidiary of ABITEC Group, the
food ingredient and specialty chemicals group, announced this week
that it has acquired Gamma Chemie, a German-based enzyme business.
Implicit vote for the celebrated, and some might say controversial
Atkins diet, with new evidence that suggests a high-protein diet
containing mostly meat does not have adverse effects on women's
ability to retain calcium.
A fall in demand for domestic soybean meal, the first time in more
than ten years, saw the North American operating arm of agri-giant
Bunge announcing this week that it will idle production at Bunge's
Marion, Ohio, soybean processing...
Nutritional ingredients company Cognis has obtained the rights to
market and manufacture Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) IP from
Norwegian research company Natural ASA.
As savoury marinades and cooking sauces gain in popularity, some
industry forecasters are predicting that the next product to fly
off grocery shelves will be dipping sauces. Meeting the trend, food
ingredients company Danisco has...
The importance of adequate nutrition levels for women at the time
of conception is under the spotlight as new animal research
suggests even modest restrictions in maternal nutrition around the
time of conception can lead to premature...
US food ingredients company Applied Food Sciences announced last
week that it has begun shipments of its green coffee bean extract
product - Green Coffee Antioxidant (GCA) - to customers.
